Weaving apparatus



Jam 8 1946. A, MARTIN WEAVING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1944 5Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Jan. 8, 1946. A. MARTIN WEAVING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1944 5Sheets-Sheet 2 O B. W q

' J 8, 1946- I V -rm. 2,392,489

WEAVING APPARATUS Filed July 26, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR.

A. MARTIN 2 392,489

WEAVI NG. APPARATUS Jan 8, 1946.

Fild July 26; 1944 5 Sheets- Sheet s fin Patented Jan. 8, 1946 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE 2,392,489 o WEAYING APPARATUS Archworth Martin,Pittsburgh, Pa. 7

Application July 26, 1944, Serial No. 546,665

10 Claims. (01. 139-28) My invention relates to weaving apparatus andmore particularly to looms for the forming of wire mesh by the basketweave method.

The invention has for one of its objects, the provision of mechanism bywhich wire mesh of this type can be woven during continuou travel of thestrand or warp wires, instead of an operator being obliged to advancethe strand wires intermittently and inserting the fillers during pausesin travel. v

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved mechanismwhereby the ends of the cross wires or stays can be conveniently bentaround the marginal or selvage wires, at the edges of the fabric.

A further object of my invention is to provide an improved means forpushing the stay wires into place in the sheds formedthrough deflectionsof the strand wires, while the strand wires are traveling.

As shown in the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevational viewof the loom proper; Fig. 1A shows a continuation or extension of theapparatus of Fig. 1, to which the partially completed fabric passes, forbending of the cross wires at the selvage edges of the fabric; Fig. 2 isa view of one of the bending elements of Fig. 1A, looking endwise of themachine; Fig. 3 is a view showing a modification of two of the bendingelements of Fig. 1A; Fig. 4 is a plan view showing certain of thedetails of the stay-wire forming and feeding mechanisms and showingother portions of the apparatus schematically and with the upperconveyor of Fig. 1 omitted; Fig. 4a is an end view of a stay guidechannel of Fig. 4; Fig. 5 is an enlarged side view of a portion of theapparatus of Fig, 4; Fig. 6 is a vertical cross sectional view showingcertain of the apparatus of Fig. 4, and Fig. 7 shows a portion ofcompleted fabric.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4,'the strand or warp wires ID are drawn from asuitable source such as reels or spools-(not shown) past rollers I l andI2, the ends of whose shafts are journaled in upright frame members l3.The rolls lll2 serve to prevent whipping or too loose movement of thestrands and may also serve somewhat as straightening rolls. Guidefingers l4 are mount-' ed upon a cross bar that is carried by bracketarms 15 that are secured on the frame members l3. The guide fingersserve to keep the wires in proper longitudinal alinement with thedeflecting frame members 2|, the shaft 20 being also .1our-.

naled in an upright frame member 23 (Figs. 1, 4 and 6). A shaft l8 hasits ends journaled in frame members 22 and 24, and a shaft I9 issupported by members 22, 24 and 25, the supporting member 25 being oflow height so as not to interfere with the upper run of the pushers forthe stays. Sprocket wheels 261are secured to the shaft l1, and a pair ofsprocket wheels 28 are secured to the shaft l8, a pair of sprock'etchains 29 passing aroundthese sprocket wheels. The shaft I9 is setslightly lower than the shaft 20, to avoid binding thrusts as betweenthe opposed bending dies as the conveyor bars 38 and the conveyor linksrock on the sprocket wheels 28 and 33 when leaving the strands.

Similarly, a pair of sprocket chains 3| pass around pairs of sprocketwheels 32 and 33, comprising a lower conveyor. r

The shaft l9, and hence the lower-conveyor, is driven through a chainand sprocket drive 35, from a motor 36 and reduction gearing in a case34, while the upper shaft l8 'has a chain and sprocket drive connection31 with the shaft 19.

The chain links on each of the conveyors 29 and 3| have cross bars 38that carry stranddeflecting or shed-forming dies or blocks 39 and 40. cAs shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and 6, on each bar 38 there is a seriesof deflector blocks 40, alternating with a series of deflector blocks39. The die blocks 39 on the upper bars 38 are vertically opposite theblocks 40 on the bars 38 carried by the lower conveyor chains and thedies 40 on the upper conveyor are vertically opposite the deflectorblocks 33 on the lower conveyor.

By this arrangement, each strand is deflected alternately in oppositevertical directions. For example, alternate strands are deflected asshown in full lines in Fig. 1 while the intermediate strands areoppositely deflected, as shown the dash lines. Sheds or spaces are thusprovided transversely of the series of strand wires III to permitinsertion of stay wires or fillers 42 that are inserted by'themechanisms to be hereinafter described. Antifriction rollers 43 areprovided on the chain pintles for antifriction engagement withback-up'plates 44 and 45 that maintain the upper and lower deflectingdies in snug engagement with one another during movement of theconveyor.

While the conveyors are constantly driven by the motor 36 and henceexert some advancing pull on the strands, it is desirable toemploydriven pinch rolls 46 and 41 that will not only pull the strandwires along but will tension them and stretch them into snug engagementwith the are driven by sprocket chain drives 48 and 49 from a motor 59and a gear reduction unit This motor may suitably be of the low voltagetype-and has such normal rate of speed as will tend to produce aslightly faster peripheral movement of the pinch rolls 46-41 than therate at which the conveyor chains 29-3l are moved.-

The pressure of the pinch rolls may desirably be suflicient to causeslight bends or crimps in the 1 stay wires 42, particularly when thestay wires are of slightly softer metal and the strand wires, 1 1 as iscommonly the case.

The stay wires 42 project laterally past the marginal strand wires adistance of approximately A5 or slightly more,'and these ends are As thefabric leaves the pinch rolls, it moves between plungers or hammers 53and 54, a pair of these plungers being positioned at each edge 3 of thefabric, to bend the stay wires. The plungers are slidable in housings 55and 56 respectively j bent around the edge or selvage wires, by the Iapparatus shown in Fig. 1A.

and are normally held out of the path of travel of the mesh bycushioning and retracting springs 51 and 58 respectively. Power springs59 and 69 respectively are utilized to move the plungers toward theplate of the mesh, with suflicient force 1 to bend the projecting endsof the stay wires 42 to positions perpendicular to the plane of thefabric.

The plungers are drawn away from the plane ofthe fabric, to compress thepower springs, by cam-like tensioning members 62 and 63, these membersbeing driven through sprocket and chain drives 64 and 65 from the motor36 and the gearthe end of the plunger stroke, but primarily 9 serves thepurpose of withdrawing the plunger out of the path of a succeeding staywires, after complete expansion of the power spring. The other stay wireends are bent upwardly in a similar manner, by the plunger 54; Idlerwheels 68 and 69 are secured to shafts 19 and H that are mounted insuitable fixed bearings.

68 braces the marginal strand wire l9 against downward deflection duringthe bending of the alternate stay wires upwardly and has teeth 12 Thewheel that prevent this marginal strand wire l9 from being deflectedinwardly during this operation. Similarly, the wheels 69 and their teethsupport the marginal strand wires against deflection during upwardbending of stay ends.

Where an even number of strand wires l9 are employed, the plungerdevices will be so arranged that one end' of a stay will be bentdownwardly by a plunger 53, and its opposite end bent upwardly at theother edge of the mesh, as in Fig. '1, by a plunger'54 that istransversely opposite to I the plunger 53. Where, however, an odd numberof strand wires areemployed, the plungers will be soarranged that bothends of alternate stay wires will be bent downwardly simultaneously,

by transversely-alined plungers 53 at opposite edges of the mesh, andthe other stays will have their ends bent upwardly by a pair oftransversely-alined plungers 54, at opposite edges of the fabric.

In order to bend the perpendicular ends of the stay wires intoapproximate parallelism with the plane of the mesh, I provide a bendingroll 14 at each edge of the mesh. These rolls are suitably journaled infixed supports and may have merely idling movement. During travel of themesh, the truncated conical surfaces of the rolls will bend theprojecting ends of the stays backwardly.

"As an alternative to the use of the bending rolls 14, I show in Fig. 3truncated conical rolls 16 and 11 that are driven at high speed andwhich have longitudinally extending ribs that will bend the ends of thestays into parallelism with the plane of. the fabric during travel ofthe fabric.

The fabric is moved forwardly past the bending dies just described, by apair of pinch rollers 19 and 89that are driven from an electrical motoror fluid drive device 8|, by belts 82 and 83,'these The wires for thestays 42 are drawn front suitable spools (not shown), past straighteningdies 85 and shears 86. These straightening dies and shears may be ofwell known forms and require no detailed description. 7 of straighteningdies and shears will be provided as ,is required to supply the cut stays42 fast enough to meet the requirement of speed at which the conveyors29-3l travel.

The cut stay wires are dropped upon a table 81 that has slots 88 throughwhich pawls or dogs 89 are carried by conveyor chains 99. The shaft ofthe sprockets 9| that drive the chains 99 has a sprocket chainconnection 92 with the shaft 29; The dogs 89 advance the stays 42 alongthe table to chutes at 93, the staysbeing' guided by edge plates 94. onthe .table and by channels 95 that engage the ends of the stays, to linethem up and maintain them in alinement. The lower ends of thechutes orguide strips 93 are bent to lip form and the stays yieldably maintainedtherein by spring-pressed fingers 96 until they are picked off ashereinafter described.

The pivoted dogs 89 have yieldable engagemen with the stays and movethem to the discharge chute. When the stays accumulate to a greaterextent than required, the dogs will simply swing clockwise on theirpivot pins, against the tension of the springs 91 and pass beneath thestays. If a sufficient number of straighteners are provided, the chutewill be kept filledwith stay wires.

Conveyor chains 98 are provided, carried on sprocket wheels such as thesprocket wheels 99, mounted on the front and rear shafts I9 and 29. Thelinks of the conveyor chains 98 have slotted cross bars I99 equal innumber to the number of cross bars 38 of the conveyors that carry thedeflecting dies. Each cross bar 199 carries a pair of teeth or fingersi9l which move upwardly between the channels 95 and the slideways 93 topick off the stay wires 42 one-b'y-one, the wires being snapped past thesprings 96 and the remaining wires in the chute or slideway will movedown to be picked off in succession by succeeding fingers.

A spring arm 19-2 is provided to yieldably hold the stay wires inposition against the fingers l9| As many sets until the stays have beenpartly pushed into-the sheds as hereinafter described.

When the stay wires have been v upper horizontal run of the conveyor,each is pushed into a shed by a pusherarm I04 that has a depending legextendingthrough afslotI05 in the bar I00, it beingund'erstoodthat-there is a pusher mounted on each bar. f 'As each bar Ireachestheupper' horizontal run, a cam roller I05, carried by thedepending portion I010! the pusher arm I 04, will engage a stationarycam rail I08 angularly disposed as shown more clearly in Fig. 4, so that"the pusher arm will be slid'longitudinallyof its associated bar I00 andpush the stay wire into the shed formed by deflecting dies of Figs. 1and 6. By the time the pusher arm reaches the presser finger I02, itwill have been advanced by the conveyor to a substantial distanceforwardly of the finger. It will be seen that each pusher is operated insuccession after it picks up a stay and six or seven pushers will beoperated simultaneously. In order to prevent tilting or canting of thepusher arm through the thrust of the cam rail I08, I provide a guiderail I09 that is engaged by a roller I In on the leg I01 of the pusher.At the end of the feed travel of each bar I00, a stay will have beencompletely inserted.

During rearward travel of the bars along the lower run of the conveyor,the'rollers I06 will be engaged by a stationary cam rail II2 to causethe pusher arms to be returned to their retracted positions ready foranother operation. At this time, a cam rail II3 will be engaged by therollers IIO to stabilize the pusher arms.

The apparatus is particularly suitable for the weaving of the heaviergages .of wire (8 to 10 gage) that are used in fencing, field mats,highway guards, etc., but can also be used on lighter gages, where thestays are of suilicient stillness to permit of pushing them into placebetween the strands. The apparatus as shown may conveniently permit themovement of the fabric through the loom at from twenty feet to thirtyfeet per minute, where there is two-inch or less spacing of the stays.For wider spacing of the stays the travel can be faster.

The loom apparatus of Fig. 1 is of utility independently of the otherparts of the apparatus, since it discloses an improved manner of form-,ing sheds into which stays can rapidly be pushed by hand, by one ormore workmen.

It will be understood that while wire strands and stays are described,the apparatus, with ob-- vious modifications could be used in theforming of fencing, for example, and wooden pickets inserted, instead ofthe wire stays. Also the strands need not necessarily be of wire, butcan be in the form of ribbons and of materials other than metal.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fabric-weaving machine, comprising means for continuously advancinga series of strands and simultaneously deflecting them to form sheds forthe reception of stay wires, a conveyor alongside of and movable withthe strands, for carrying stay wires, and means associated with theconveyor for pushing the stay wires into place in the sheds, duringtravel of the strands.

2. A fabric-weaving machine, comprising means for continuously advancinga series of -strands and simultaneously deflecting them to form shedsfor the reception of stay wires, a conveyor alongside of and movablewith the strands for carrying stay wires, means. for depositing staycarriedft'o the wires one-by-one on the ---'conveyor,- and a pluralityotme'mbers successivelyoperable to move the stay to'the sheds; duringtravel of. the

=3. Afab'rlc-wa means" for" progressively deflecting the strands toform: sheds fo fthe'reception-of stay wires and for maintaining theshedsthroughout a predetermined distance of the path oftravel; and

mea'nsfpiintroducing stay wires' i'nto the sheds,

one-by one, for "pushing them fully into po sition in the fabric,"travel of the strands saidprfietrmined distance. 4. A fabric weavingmachine'c'omprising means for continuously advancing a, series ofstrands, means for progressively deflecting the strands to form shedsfor the reception of stay wires and for maintaining the sheds throughouta, prezo determined distance of the path of travel, means forintroducing stay wires into the sheds, oneby-one, and for pushing themfully into position in the fabric, during travel of the strands saidpredetermined distance, means associated with the conveyor for pushingthe stays into place, and meahs i for bending the ends of the stay wiresaround the marginal strands during travel of the strands.

5. Fabric-weaving apparatus comprising a pair or conveyors each having astraight-away run mounted in opposed relation to a straight-away run ofthe other conveyor, means for advancing a series of strands between saidruns, and shedforming dies on the conveyors," positioned to defleet thestrands while between said runs and maintain sheds therein for thereception of stay wires, during travel of the strands along said run. 6.Fabric-weaving apparatus comprising a pair of conveyors each having astraight-away run unmounted in opposed relation to a straight-away runof the other conveyor, means for advancing a series of strands betweensaid runs, shed-forming dies on the conveyors, positioned to deflect thestrands while between said runs and maintain ing travel of the strandsalong said run, a conveyor alongside said runs, for carrying stay wires,and pusher devices for moving the stays into the sheds, during travel ofthe conveyors.

7. Fabric-weaving apparatus comprising a pair of conveyors each havingone run mounted in 0pposed relation to a run of the other conveyor,means for moving a series of strands between the opposed conveyor runs,shed-forming dies on the conveyors, arranged in series, the dies of eachseries being disposed in alined relation transversely of the conveyor,and arranged to form sheds in the strand wires, a third conveyordispo'sed alongside of one of the other conveyors and intransversely-spaced relation thereto, cross bars on the third conveyor,each alined with one series of dies, means for depositing stay wires onthe cross bars, and pusher devices movable along the cross bars, forpushing the stays successively into place in the said various series ofdies.

8. Fabric-weaving apparatus comprising a pair of chain type conveyorseach having one run mounted in opposed relation to a run of the otherconveyor, means for moving a series of strands between the opposedconveyor runs, shed-forming dies on the conveyors, arranged in series,the dies of each series being disposed in alined relation transverselyof the conveyor, and arranged to form sheds in the strand wires, a thirdconn I g machine-c'omprising means for continuously advancing aseriesof" strands,

sheds therein for the reception of stay wires, dur-' veyor disposedalongside of one or the other conveyors in transversely spaced relationthereto,

cross bars on the third conveyor, each alined; with one series or dies,means for depositing stay wiresonthe cross bars, pusher devicesmovablealong the cross bars, and cam devices for recipro! pusher deviceslongitudinally of the eating the cross bars, for pushing successive staywires into place in the sheds duringtraveling movement of the conveyors.

9. The method of weavin which comprisescontinuously advancing a seriesof strands, deflecting the strands to form successive sheds thatrespectively extend transversely of the path of advancing movement,maintaining said sheds for 15 ARCHWOR'IH MARTIN.

